OUR FIRST substantial story of the new year was a sad one – Om Puri left us on January 6 2017.

The actor had a long career both in the UK and Bollywood and spoke to www.asianculturevulture.com on the telephone when he was last in London.

Gurinder Chadha paid tribute to Om Puri at the London Asian Film Festival in March

That was back in September 2016 and promoting the first Pakistani film he had been involved with – ‘Actor-in-Law’ in which he plays the father and much respected lawyer figure of a son who eschews the legal profession and dreams of being a movie star. Events make that character turn to the law…it’s an entertaining and enjoyable social comedy and Puri plays his character with all the grace and charm you would expect of one of the really great professionals.

At that point, no one had seen his role in ‘Viceroy’s House’. British director Gurinder Chadha reminded us what we had all lost.

WE were actually offline for a short while as we switched hosts and encountered technical issues in the switch.

But service continued on our FACEBOOK page and our film section was dominated by the London Asian Film Festival (LAFF, previously Tongues on Fire). It was a tremendous thrill and honour to announce that we had been nominated the official digital media partner.

Just before the festival began, Chadha’s ‘Viceroy’s House’ was in cinemas from March 3.

The festival (March 9-19 London) itself had a wide range of films on offer and kicked off with a Partition weepie, ‘Mango Dreams’. Debutant filmmaker American John Upchurch stole hearts with Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Tripathi and Ram Gopal Bajaj turning in brilliant performances and getting the festival theme of ‘borders’ off to a tremendous start.
We were there and acv special presenter Attika Choudhary talked to the leading lights of the festival in a live Twitter broadcast. Watch here. https://www.periscope.tv/asianculturevul/1kvJpndyXPbKE

Ratna Pathak discusses the impact of ‘Lipstick Under my Burkha’ at the London Asian Film Festival

There was quite the hullabaloo over LAFF’s ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ – it got a ban (in practice in India) when the certification board said it was simply ‘too women-orientated’ and explicit. By western standards, the film was quite tame and Lipstick did get a release later in India and proved to be a hit, even though it was a budget production with no recognised (Bollywood) stars. Leading lady Ratna Pathak (well known in theatre and wife of Naseeruddin Shah) did make it to London and said the film could do without the fuss – but it enjoyed global attention because of it.
While this was published a bit later it contains the links – including a live Twitter broadcast of a sample of the Q&A that followed its screening at LAFF.http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/lipstick-under-my-burkha-comes-back-to-britain/
Here’s our video of the glitzy closing gala event and awards ceremony.. Art Malik, Gurinder Chadha and Naughty Boy were among the guests…

Look out soon for lots on next year’s edition – which will be the 20th! And put it in your diary now…March 15-25!

At the end of the month, we were back on line and saw the intriguing ‘Signature Move’ at the BFI Flare (March 16-26), which showcases the best of queer cinema globally. A lesbian chick flick (crudely speaking), set in Chicago, it included Shabana Azmi and writer-director Fawzia Mirza in the lead role. Funny, poignant and culturally astute, Mirza showed a deft hand for cultural cross currents. Her main squeeze in the film is of Mexican origin and the similarities between the two cultures were neatly articulated. http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/signature-move-third-culture-comes-focus-bfi-flare-closing-gala-film/

Just two days later, the British Film Institute (BFI) announced that it was hosting a season of films from India, ‘India on Film’. We were there when Bollywood/Hollywood star Anil Kapoor dropped by to help with the launch alongside music star Anushka Shankar and BFI head curator Robin Baker. Curator Meenakshi Shedde from India gave us an insight into which films and why.http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/india-film-bfi-preview-interview/

There is much speculation now as to whether we will see Bollywood babe Priyanka Chopra in these parts (ie the UK). It’s been a while, PC. But Meghan’s wedding, yes that Meghan – means she is in the running to be maid of honour. The two are reported to be good friends. In April this year, PC was gearing up for the publicity for ‘Baywatch’, her first Hollywood film appearance. The movie itself tanked but PC came through it unscathed and will be in at least two Hollywood productions in 2018/19. http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/priyanka-chopra-new-baywatch-trailer-release-update/

Into the full swing of May, and that means only one place and only story in town. Cannes. Music supremo AR Rahman made his debut, not quite officially, but the producers behind ‘Sangamithra’ know their way around the Croisette.

Always regal in her own way and marking 20 years of L’Oreal Paris and 15 years since the screening of ‘Devdas’ (with Shah Rukh Khan) in Cannes, was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Shot at the cosmetic firm’s new studio on the beach and at night – as ‘Devdas’ screened to a hand-picked audience next door – there was something different about the atmosphere. Dazzling in a very old school sort of way… (and shot in 4K, a first for us).

We were there for Ash’s highly personal introduction to Devdas and caught her before she took to the stage.
The Twitter teaser…

Seen our new show – ACV Bird Eye Review Show

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Cannes 2020 – Reflections (2015-19)

We made a little video about times covering the biggest and most glamourous film festival of them all - more diversity than you think!
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